ENG 1921: ESSAY 1: EVALUATION ARGUMENT (A Film Review)
Assignment:
This assignment requires you to form a basic argument by presenting a claim and then supporting it with evidence. You are to evaluate based upon the criteria we have discussed in class and that you have read about in Chapter 3 of your Corrigan text. Please keep in mind that a claim of value answers the question: Is it good, or is it bad? You must make clear judgments about your criteria (acting, special effects, sound, cinematogrpahy, etc.). Otherwise, you are merely informing your audience. Keep in mind that evaluating requires some expertise about a particular person, performance, place, object, or service., so you should choose a subject that is reobservable—that you can revisit or re-view as you write your essay. Be careful to select criteria appropriate for your subject and audience. You should assume this evaluation will appear in your school newspaper, so be certain that you choose criteria that will be important to that population. Be sure that you remain focused on your purpose, formulate a strong claim, and identify the aspects (criterion) of your subject that you wish to evaluate.PURPOSE
What do I want to accomplish with this essay?
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a film and to communicate a clear opinion of the work (either you recommend or do not recommend).
This essay is 100% your opinion. Be persuasive.
AUDIENCE
How will audience affect the content of your paper? Who am I writing for?
Imagine you are writing this essay as a review for your school newspaper.
With this in mind, consider the criteria that will be important to college students when completing your evluation.
How will audience affect diction (word choice)?
Since your audience is a college newspaper and you are essentially writing a review, how will this affect the type of language that you will use?
Since you are writing a review, you diction will take on a conversational tone. In other words, the language is informal. You may use first person, contractions, etc. However, since this will appear in a newspaper you want to maintain a certain level of professionalism. In other word, avoid the use of slang and explicit language.
Research Required
After you have selected your movie, get familiar with its context. By this I mean, before you even see the movie, get to know a little about it. What have the actors and director worked on before? Maybe check out some of their past work. Are they Oscar winners? Are they known for a certain style? Is the movie based on a book or an historical event? Is it a remake or a sequel? Look into those kinds of things. All of this information will help you understand the movie better. You'll pick up on details, allusions, trademarks of the actor or director, and probably have more insight into important story elements. You'll be able to tell readers how it lived up to the original, or the book. These are the things that help a critic offer a solid opinion that is of interest to the fan.
Format: Your essay should have a title. It should also be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman & 12 pt. font, with one inch margins all around. Your essay should be a minimum of four pages and no more than 5 .
NOTE: Keep all planning work, brainstorming, freewriting, clustering, revision workshop responses, workshop questionnaires, HIGHLIGHTED SOURCES (If outside sources used), reflections and NUMBERED versions of the essay to hand in, in addition to the final DRAFT of the essay. REMEMBER, NO PROCESS, NO GRADE.
POINTERS:
Form a Clear Overall Claim
After you see the movie, formulate a specific opinion in one sentence. Your job is to give an opinion of the movie. Ultimately, this may come down to a "thumbs up" or "three stars out of five." But you want to have a specific thesis to drive your critique. For example, "I didn't like this comedy" becomes "The story had funny moments but it went on too long." "This horror movie is good" becomes "This horror movie works because it builds suspense right up until the end." So, try to find that very specific opinion that will be the foundation of your review.
Create a Good Lead.
You want your reader to be interested in what you have to say. Grab them in that first or "lead" paragraph in one of several ways: Start with a great quote from the movie, and explain how it reflects the movie; refer to the reputation of the actor or director and compare it to how he or she did in this movie; compare this movie to another well-known film in a few sentences or two; explain what your expectation was, and then if it was fulfilled or not. Then end that first paragraph with your opinion statement.
Recap the Basic Premise of the Film
Recap briefly, but don't give away anything big. If you've read professional reviews, you know they always include a little bit of recap. Some readers like to know what they're getting into before they lay down their money for a ticket. You can tell people the basic premise of the movie. In fact, you should give them the basic premise, and tell them how the story builds, but don't give away key moments, especially not the ending! And keep it brief. Then get to reviewing (making judgments).
Be Specific
Back up your main opinion with specifics. The readers now know you think "This comedy had funny moments but went on too long." It's time for you to prove it. Talk about how the teen actors had good timing like they did in that other movie. Talk about how the writers did a great
parody of that famous film. But then add that there were too many scenes involving the family or the boyfriend. Talk about the fact that there were multiple endings and all of them were long. Use specifics to make your readers see you're right.
Be Interesting
Just because this is a review doesn't mean it's got to bedull. From lead to ending paragraph, make the review engaging, using metaphors, analogy, specific adjectives and adverbs to create the images you're looking for. But also be concise. A review isn't a place for long
diatribes or flowery prose.
Be Honest in Your Appraisal
Your reader and the work you're critiquing both deserve an honest opinion, right? So even if you HATE that actor or LOVE that actress, be sure not to hold back your true opinion of the film.
Have some standards in mind. A comedy should be funny, a horror movie should be scary, etc.; judge the movie against those standards, not against any pre-existing opinions you may have. It will make the review more valuable to the reader and honest writing is always best, isn't it?
Caution:
Don't spend too much time summarizing the plot. Your plot summary should be no more than FIVE sentences. Don't give away key moments!
This assignment will be graded as follows:
Total Possible Points: 40/
Final Draft, evaluated on the following criteria:
Focus (11 points): Does essay have a clear purpose? Is there an identifiable claim? Are reader’s expectations set and then met? Ideas, examples, and reasons developed in the body of the paper are clearly related to the main focus?
Development (11 points): Are supporting examples, showing details, and data rich and relevant to the main idea? Are criteria clearly stated and appropriate for audience? Judgment clearly stated for each criterion (Must note strengths as well as weaknesses)? Is there sufficient evidence for each criterion/judgment? Are the writer’s assertions immediately followed by supporting evidence? Appropriate research supports the writer’s main idea or thesis? The writer shows how or why evidence is relevant to main idea or claim? Is there an accurate & detailed description of subject, product, or service.
Organization (11 points): Do ideas and paragraphs proceed in logical and apparent sequence or pattern? Does writer use sufficient audience cues to let the reader know what has been discussed, what is being discussed, or what will be discussed? Does writer use attention-getting title and lead-in, essay map, summary and forecasting statements, paragraph hooks, transitional words and phrases? Do effective conclusions guide the reader from beginning to end?
Style (4 points): Is language clear direct and readable? Are sentences clear, concise, and easily read by intended audience? Is word choice appropriate for audience? Do sentences reveal and sustain appropriate voice and tone?
Mechanics/Other Requirements (3 points): Are there obvious errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar? Are there patterns of error? If needed, is there a Works Cited page & photocopies of written sources?
NO PEER CRITIQUE (-3 POINTS)
NO INVENTION WORK (-3 POINTS)
NO 1ST DRAFT ON DUE DATE (-3 POINTS)
NO REFLECTION (-3 POINTS)
NO PROCESS = NO GRADE
Grading scale:
A 36-40
B 32-35
C 28-31
D 24-27
F 0-23
